Providing Employment References/Verification

If you've had employees who left your business, you can expect prospective employers to contact you at some point for information about them. Employment references are one of an employer’s most effective tools for verifying an applicant’s credentials and qualifications. The following states have laws that may require you to provide references to former employees upon their request: California, Delaware, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Texas, and Washington.

As an ex-employer, you want to limit your risk by providing only the appropriate information in the correct manner. For example, to confirm that the individual was employed by your company from A to B in X position. Unfavorable statements may cause you to incur legal costs in defending suits for invasion of privacy, violations of state blacklisting laws, and similar claims. Certain statements by you or someone connected with your business may form the basis for lawsuits against you. Your primary risk is that former employees may sue for defamation, claiming that your statements are false and damaging to their reputations.

There’s one situation when you may have a legal obligation to provide information about a former employee to a prospective employer. Assume that you know that a former employee has a history of criminal violence or extremely aggressive behavior. An employer approaches you for a reference in connection with a job that would have your former employee working closely with the public. Must you disclose what you know about the employee’s conduct? What if you're not sure that the information is true? Your risk in remaining silent is that you could be sued for failing to disclose the information if the former employee subsequently harms someone while on the job. On the other hand, you could be sued for defamation if you disclose the information and it turns out not to be true. Faced with this type of situation, you should consult an attorney.

The bottom line, however, is that the decision is yours to make as to what amount of information, if any, you will provide in response to reference requests.